Huskies hoops notebook: Gaddy gets starting nod

Seemed a universal question last season about Huskies then-freshman Abdul Gaddy.

Washington coach Lorenzo Romar gave logical reasons for Gaddy not dominating the conference. He’s just 17. His game isn’t built on flash, it’s subtle and effective.

True and true. But Gaddy spent the year with a low field goal percentage (41.7) and an equally depressed confidence level. Romar said at the end of the year, removing Gaddy from the starting lineup during the season would have been another blow to the point guard’s confidence.

Romar gave him a boost on Monday by naming Gaddy the fourth starter for Saturday’s exhibition against St. Martin’s (5 p.m.). He’ll join Isaiah Thomas, Justin Holiday and Matthew Bryan-Amaning to start things. The nod also comes with the caveat that Gaddy’s main competition, Venoy Overton, has been out for six weeks with a hamstring injury. The fifth starter is yet to be determined.

For Gaddy, last year was last year.

“Sometimes you just don’t play as well,” Gaddy said. “Last year, I had struggles, but I had to get through it. It’s not like I could just pout about it.

“This year, go into the summer, try to work really hard, work on all parts of my game so I could make myself better individually so I could help the team. It’s about helping the team.”

Gaddy spent the summer shooting at game speed. About an hour a day at Hec Ed, down at Tacoma Community College, wherever there was a gym. He and his coach say his shot and agility are improved.

“He’s been playing pretty consistently,” Romar said. “He’s an improved player from last year.”

Gaddy’s weight is down from 195 to 186 pounds, according to him. He said he basically ran it off during summer work.

Gaddy also misses Overton in practice. He says dealing with that style of defense makes games easier.

“Nobody can guard like that,” Gaddy said. “In practice, when he’s picking up full court, that’s the hardest thing to deal with. If I’m dealing with that in practice and getting used to it to where he doesn’t steal the ball, then I can deal with it in the game no problem. That’s the main thing I miss about him. I can’t wait for him to get back.”

Isaiah Thomas has been part of the long line of people talking to Gaddy. Since Thomas has swagger to spare, he tried to up Gaddy’s.

“You should feel like every shot you shoot is going in,” Thomas said. “I’m trying to instill that into him. You have to have the most confidence in yourself, because if you don’t have it, no one else will.”

Thomas says Gaddy’s confidence is up.

“You could tell his swagger, his level is a level that he feels like he can’t be stopped,” Thomas said. “That’s not a bad thing in the game of basketball because people are going to come after you. Especially a guy like Abdul.”

As Thomas referenced, hype may have been one of Gaddy’s biggest defenders last season. His second year will be more telling of his talent.

Big talk about N’Diaye

The consistent talk about the pending impact of seven-foot Aziz N’Diaye continued on Tuesday. He’s a strong candidate to be the fifth starter and has his coach and teammates excited.

Part of the process for the guards is learning where to feed N’Diaye the ball. Bullet passes are not the preferred option. They’ve been working to lob it into N’Diaye.

He also continues to control things in the back. Thomas claims N’Diaye is yet to block his shot.